This invention relates to electrical power systems for ships and more particularly to a system for producing electrical energy using the sails and rigging of orthodox sailing ships with some modifications.
Sailing ships of various sizes have been used for centuries for transportation of goods and people. After the invention of oil-burning or combustion engines, these engines were added to the sailing ships to provide emergency motive power and auxiliary power. Nowadays, except for pleasure yachts, there are few ships in the world which use sails alone to provide their motive power. The reason is primarily because it is too dangerous and unreliable to depend only on the sails driven by the wind. Dangerous, because when in a storm with the sails reefed, it can be difficult to keep control of the ship without forward motive power. This has led to many shipwrecks. Unreliable, because when the ship is becalmed it is at the mercy of the tides and little motion in the direction of travel is accomplished. It therefore is desirable to have on board an auxiliary engine for driving the ship. However, these engines consume oil which must be carried and is growing more expensive.
A sailing ship presently uses solar energy in the form of wind on its sails to push the ship forward. It is proposed to make use of the sails and rigging, to produce electric power sufficient to store in a battery and to be used primarily for energizing an electric motor which operates ships screws to drive the ship. The electric power system would comprise thin-film solar photovoltaic arrays, mounted on both sides of the sails, photovoltaic arrays formed of beads mounted on the spars and rigging, a DC voltage regulator, a storage battery and an AC inverter, connected by cables and to the loads.